So, I finally got my hands on this game (it's out quite a bit earlier in the Europe. Consider me shocked at this twist on regular routine) and played through the first episode. Yes that's right, the game is divided into episodes, and in the best way possible. Upon starting episode 2 I was greeted with a "Previously on Resident Evil Revelations" segment which was very well done. Brought a smile to my face.

The graphics are absolutely awesome for a little handheld. The video I posted in the first post above is representative, though it contains a mixture of cutscenes and in-game stuff. There's a ton of options to fiddle with, including controls (it supports the extra thumbstick if you've got it, though reports say the controls work better without it) which have several presets. I was surprised to see that the default controls actually allow me to strafe, even while shooting. There is also a "depth enhancer" of some kind which makes the 3D look more vivid. I'm not quite sure what it does, but I put it on the strongest setting which somehow makes the screen on the 3DS feel larger and the game more immersive. The only negative to that strength level is that regular text becomes harder to read for some reason, but most of that is on the bottom screen anyway (I don't use subtitles) so it's not a real problem.

The previews for this game have focused on the ship, but there are other locations as well. In the brief time I've played so far I've already been to two wildly different non-ship locations, so far acting as flashbacks. These seem to have a slightly different feel, perhaps with a bit more focus on action and a bit less focus on horror because you don't really have to save ammo for later in these scenes.

Don't be fooled into thinking this is a cheap cash-in on the Resident Evil franchise just because it's on the 3DS. It definitely feels like a triple-A game so far, with lots of cutscenes, voiceovers and an intriguing story with plenty of mystery to it. Reviews are generally favorable, with an 82% rating on Metacritic so far, divided between 15 positive and 3 lukewarm reviews.

Make sure you bring headphones. The music and sound is stellar, though the sound effects are quite low fidelity. The music is crisp however.

Two episodes in now. It's getting better, though I can't for the life of me figure out the dodging mechanic. The game gives you instructions, but I just can't make them work. This got frustrating when one part of the game required dodging to get past.

Every episode seems to end in a cliffhanger, just like they should. For an example, play through the demo. The end of the demo is the end of an episode in the game. Don't worry about having to play through the demo content again with the full game however, because the section from the demo is very, very different here. See the spoiler for an idea of how, and a good indication of why this game is scarier than Resident Evil 5.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Draining the tub at the beginning of that section got me my first, nasty surprise. No gun? But... there's a monster outside of the door! And the corridors are crawling with monsters! And... wait a second, this isn't even the same room as in the demo. What the heck is going on!? *panic mode!*

I defeated my first boss today. Holy shit, that was intense! I had been really stocking up on ammo and weapons for a while, and started feeling invincible. Should have known better. One boss fight later and I was out of nearly everything. Just a few rounds left in the chamber, and no grenades or other fun equipment. Time to feel vulnerable again, I guess.

After you finish the first three episodes on any difficulty, you unlock the first 7 Raid missions in the game. These are sort of like Mercenaries mode, but not quite. Raid sends you through one of the maps in the game, telling you to reach the end. I don't know if you have to kill all enemies, but I think so. You meet appropriate enemies for the locale, and as a neat novelty they actually have a health bar like in an RPG. Killing them seems to always net you some loot, mostly more ammo. There's other loot spread across the place, such as ammo and upgrade parts.

There seems to be some randomness to the way the missions work, though I haven't played any of them twice yet. I noticed some enemies had a little icon next to their health bar. One had a small fist, which I assume meant it would deal more damage if it hit me. Another had a symbol that made it faster, which is a real troublesome thing when your ability to move is hampered (yet the controls are more flexible than in other RE games, allowing you to do stuff like move in all directions, though slowly, while shooting). You may stumble across locked doors, which means that one of the enemies in the area has the key and needs to be killed. It may be the last enemy, or it may not. Haven't played enough to be sure.

When you complete missions you are showered with loot. My first mission netted me a magnum and a weapon upgrade, while my second got me two new pistols and more upgrades. You are rated according to several factors, such as time spent in the mission, weapon accuracy and damage. This earns you points, with more points being earned for better scores, and bonus points awarded for achieving certain feats (killing all enemies in the mission, for example). You also gain levels from completing missions. I'm not quite sure what they do yet, apart from letting you use weapons with level requirements. One of my pistols requires level 4, but since I'm level 3 I can't equip it at the moment. A shame too, because it was the one that seemed to fit my playstyle the most. Gives me incentive to keep playing.

You choose your weapon loadout and their upgrades before a mission. You can carry 3 weapons at a time (maybe this can be upgraded later. I don't know), 4 green herbs, 4 grenades, etc. Ammo spent during a mission is permanently spent. To get it back you must either find new ammo during a mission or purchase a full clip at premium cost in the store. The store is fun and contains a crapload of stuff. It seems to contain a random assortment of things at any time, so you never quite know what you'll find. Some of these items cost points, while others costs coins (as in, the coins you earn from walking around with your 3DS). Here you can purchase new weapons, restock ammo (price depends on the ammo. Filling up your pistol ammo is relatively cheap, while filling up your magnum is hideously expensive), purchase upgrades, and so on.

The upgrades work the same way as in the campaign. Each weapon has a certain amount of upgrade slots. I've seen anything from 1 to 4 slots so far, but I don't doubt there are weapons with more (or maybe even less). You can freely add or remove upgrades from a weapon between missions, so you don't permanently spend them. These upgrades vary quite a lot, with some being more useful for multiplayer than singleplayer and vice-versa. Examples include bonuses to damage and fire rate, chances to stun enemies, aggro reduction (yup, Raid has an aggro mechanic for multiplayer), increased clip size, bigger hitboxes on enemies, and so on. Choosing what to use and on what weapon can be hard, and I've barely even got anything to use yet!

You can also pick and choose from an assortment of characters, each with their own abilities. The three characters I have so far each has two abilities that give 200% reload speed for certain weapons, so the character you choose this early on depends on what weapon loadout you prefer. I picked the guy who gives 200% reload speed for pistols and shotguns for now. You can clearly unlock more characters over time, as well as new costumes for them. You can also adjust their level, though I'm not sure for what purpose.

You also have something called Missions, which are kind of like trophies/achievements that give you something when you accomplish them. There are separate ones for the campaign and for Raid mode, and they can vary wildly. For example, to unlock Raid mode at all you need to complete a mission that requires you to finish the first 3 episodes at Casual difficulty or higher. In the campaign, completing a mission can give you anything from an extra healing herb (useful!) to new weapons, upgrades or costumes. In Raid mode, missions can give you bonus points, new items, new characters, new costumes, etc.

Remember Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D? Raid mode in RE: Revelations has more content than that entire game, and that's not even including the campaign! There seems to be 20 missions, each with several difficulty levels (that you must unlock through play). Add to that the fact that I never really liked Mercenaries (it feels like you have to practice for a long time to achieve even basic successes) but feel like Raid is really fun. It was hard to put away the game today, but my eyes are starting to hurt from the 3D.

If you've got any questions about the game, feel free to ask. I can at least make an effort to ease the waiting time for you people across the pond.

Aaaand it's done! Just finished the campaign mode, which took me 11 hours and 20 minutes according to the in-game clock. That's a nice size for a portable RE game, particularly when you add in Raid mode as well, which is going to keep me busy for some time still.

I have to say, it's one hell of a transition from RE5 to this when it comes to ammo. You always feel like you're just about to run out here, and if you don't it's a sure sign that the next enemy you meet is going to be a boss (of which there is a surprising amount). For the last 5 chapters or so I pretty much abandoned my handgun since I never had any ammo for it. It wasn't unusual for me to have to try out weapons I normally didn't use, simply because ammo was getting scarce for my favorites. Making every shot count is extremely important here.

Anyway, loved the game from start to finish. This is probably the most impressive 3DS title to date.

I'm really looking forward to Revelations, I've read that Capcom wished they had made this a numbered RE game rather than just subtitling it because it really deserves to be part of the main line.

This is the return to form I've been waiting for from the RE series. I liked RE4, but it wasn't that scary to me. And RE5 doesn't even count as an RE game in my book, I've mostly erased it from my memory.

One thing I want to add is how much it sucks that I have to invest more into my 3DS hardware to get the full gameplay experience. I'm talking about having to buy the circle pad pro on top of being an early adopter and buying the system before the price drop.

I'm really frustrated with Nintendo over that fact, and to know they will just redesign the 3DS to incorporate two analog sticks and I'll probably end up buying that too.

I don't own the circle pad pro, and yet the game controls are fine. Whether you'll like the addon or not for this game depends on how you like the controls in RE4 and 5, I suspect. If you hated those controls, the circle pad pro is probably a good idea. If not, you won't have any issues without it.

I decided I want the circle pad pro. It's GS exclusive, and they only got enough for pre-orders. They're taking pre-orders for the next batch in April (the conspiracy nit in me feels like this is a GS pre-order pushing move).

I ordered one from Nintendo.

Unfortunately, it seems that the more comfortable shoulder buttons (which were one of the main reasons I wanted one) don't work with every game. Only CPP enabled games. That means you can't just leave the peripheral on, which makes it even more awkward to carry around.

Logged

"The cause of death was asphyxiation, or smothering, in layman's terms."

I decided I want the circle pad pro. It's GS exclusive, and they only got enough for pre-orders. They're taking pre-orders for the next batch in April (the conspiracy nit in me feels like this is a GS pre-order pushing move).

I ordered one from Nintendo.

Unfortunately, it seems that the more comfortable shoulder buttons (which were one of the main reasons I wanted one) don't work with every game. Only CPP enabled games. That means you can't just leave the peripheral on, which makes it even more awkward to carry around.

I bought the CPP the day I got Revelaitons and I definitely like it. People were complaining about bulk, but I actually think it makes the system feel nicer in my hands. I finished up Episode 3 last night and unlocked Raid Mode, which I will give a try today.

I decided I want the circle pad pro. It's GS exclusive, and they only got enough for pre-orders. They're taking pre-orders for the next batch in April (the conspiracy nit in me feels like this is a GS pre-order pushing move).

I ordered one from Nintendo.

Unfortunately, it seems that the more comfortable shoulder buttons (which were one of the main reasons I wanted one) don't work with every game. Only CPP enabled games. That means you can't just leave the peripheral on, which makes it even more awkward to carry around.

I bought the CPP the day I got Revelaitons and I definitely like it. People were complaining about bulk, but I actually think it makes the system feel nicer in my hands. I finished up Episode 3 last night and unlocked Raid Mode, which I will give a try today.

That's what I keep hearing about the comfort, so I was really bummed to hear you'll only get it with certain games. At least until the 3DSi comes out.

Logged

"The cause of death was asphyxiation, or smothering, in layman's terms."

It's kind of funny that one of the only knocks on this game is something I'm enjoying about it. I actually like the actiony sequences that are littered through the game. It, for me at least, helps the pacing. A near perfect blend of old school re and new re!